


Interesting

by Kannika



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Kittens, M/M, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:15:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24703642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kannika/pseuds/Kannika
Summary: Though he had only been around for a few months, Jaime had already gotten used to coming into the new living quarters to hang out on days off and finding Bart had done something interesting while he was gone.This time, when he opened the door he was greeted with this sight: Bart asleep in a chair, covered in kittens.That was new.
Relationships: Bart Allen/Jaime Reyes
Comments: 8
Kudos: 76





	Interesting

**Author's Note:**

> Anyone else write a bunch of fanfiction while waiting for Season Three of Young Justice and now have tons of headcanons and theories that aren't canon anymore? Just me? I really expected this couple to be a thing, tbh.

Though he had only been around for a few months, Jaime had already gotten used to coming into the new living quarters to hang out on days off and finding Bart had done… _something,_ while he was gone. 

That something ranged from getting in a fight to getting a fake ID, depending on the day and the amount of free time he had. When he had extra money, he bought a video game system that lasted a day before it was destroyed by someone’s temper. When he had extra time, the whole place would be decorated. He would go places on a whim, maybe just to prove he could, and bring back a souvenir for Jaime. Mickey Mouse hats, maple syrup, mugs from the Grand Canyon and the Alamo (with a speech written in Spanish he had absolutely slaughtered while attempting to recite) and Washington D.C. and Niagara Falls. 

This time, however, when he opened the door, he was greeted with this sight: Bart asleep in a chair, and covered in kittens. 

That was _new._

Jaime blinked. “What’s going on here?”

_There are seven felines on top of the Impulse, five female and two male, approximately six weeks—_

“That was rhetorical,” Jaime said to the scarab. A bad move, because it made Bart crack an eye open, which was immediately followed by a wide grin. A grin that made Jaime sigh internally, because it was always followed by one of Bart’s patented Bad Ideas. This time, he could guess what was coming.

“Morning, buddy Blue!” He said. “Look what I found!”

“What are those?” Jaime asked. 

_Scientific name—_

“Rhetorical!”

Bart didn’t bat an eye at Jaime yelling at himself. “In my defense,” he said, his voice much softer and slower than it usually was in an attempt not to wake them, “You left me unsupervised.” 

_Dios mio._ Jaime rubbed his head and sighed. “Where did you find them?” 

“In a trash can,” Bart said, looking scandalized. “Can you believe it? What kind of person would do that?!”

“I don’t know. It’s unforgivable. But we can’t keep them here!” He held up a finger. “Hold on. Scarab, where is the nearest animal shelter?”

“No!” And immediately, Bart was in his face (literally) and holding a kitten up to it. “No, no, no, look at them! They’re sweet and helpless and won’t cause any trouble at all! You won’t even notice they’re here!”

Jaime took a step back so he didn’t get a mouthful of fur and took the kitten carefully into his hands. As Khaji Da started listing all the diseases wild animals could transfer to humans (not helping, in any way) he studied it. It was a patchwork of black and white fur, a little dirtier on the paws than normal housecats and a little scrawnier in the stomach, but it opened its mouth and squeaked at him and that was full of spirit. He was a little fighter, Jaime could already tell. Going to be a handful and a half.

“Eh? Eh?” Bart darted over to retrieve one that had bounded close to the door, holding it up to his face and not minding the dirt sticking to its feet and tail. This one nearly matched his hair in color, and it batted at the side of his mask with tiny claws. “Aren’t they adorable?”

He looked absolutely enthralled with it— and something occurred to Jaime with a stab of guilt. “Did… did you have any pets?”

Just barely, Bart’s smile cracked, but when he glanced at Jaime it was brighter than ever. He wasn’t fooled. There was a reason Bart didn’t talk about where he came from and it had nothing to do with time paradoxes. 

“There… weren’t many animals left,” he admitted quietly. “Too many people, not enough food.” 

_Oh._ God, he would never have asked if he thought that was the answer he was going to get. It made him hold the kitten tighter to his chest.

_It is only logical,_ Khaji Da told him. 

“Nobody asked you,” Jaime said crossly, and when Bart raised an eyebrow he said, “Sorry. That didn’t occur to me.”

“What are you sorry for? It’s not your fault.” Bart scratched the kitten behind the ears, lighting up all over again when it gave a loud purr and reached up for more. “They’re just so precious. How could someone throw them away?” 

“I don’t know. People are crazy. And terrible, sometimes.”

“You mean _loco,_ ” Bart said, then brightened. “What’s Spanish for cat?”

“ _Gato._ Why?”

He frowned. “What about kitten?”

_“Gatito.”_

“Perfect!” Bart held up the kitten. “We can call this one Tito!” 

“Wh—no! No, we’re not naming them, don’t get attached, we’re not keeping them.”

Bart opened his eyes wider in innocent hopefulness.

“ _No,_ there’s no way the others are going to agree to it—"

Behind him, the zeta tube whirred; Jaime spun around as a figure materialized and the computer announced Superboy’s arrival.

“Speak of the devil,” Bart said brightly. “We’ll just ask him.”

Oh no.

Conner walked out of the tube one step, stopped, and narrowed his eyes at both of them. Jaime shrank back. Bart just held one kitten up, which meowed at him pitifully. 

“Can we keep them?” He asked. “Come on, you have Wolf!” 

“I’m not your mom,” Conner retorted, and continued walking. “I see nothing.” 

“Smart man,” Jaime said. “Can I still do that? Deny involvement?”

“You’re always involved.” He stopped when a kitten bounded in his path and landed on his boot, leaning down to pick it up and scratch it behind the ears. “Why do you even let him go out? Didn’t he get arrested last week?”

“Detained,” Bart said, like it was a crucial detail.

“Since when is keeping an eye on him my job?” Jaime asked indignantly. 

“Since you’re dating him.” 

Jaime spluttered. Bart laughed aloud and flung an arm around Jaime’s shoulders, somehow managing not to drop any of the three kittens he was holding by this point. “I told you!” he said. “I told you they’d figure it out! Conner, who was first, I have a bet riding on this.” 

“Bart!” Jaime turned to Conner, preparing to explain himself and plead his case, and was surprised to find he was slightly smiling. “You… don’t seem angry.” 

Conner raised an eyebrow. “Why would I be?” 

“Because it’s you,” Bart said. Jaime elbowed him in the stomach, but he was certain he hardly felt it. Stupid abs of solid steel from all the running. It was unfair. 

“Because… it’s the team and we’re supposed to be focused on—" He stopped, feeling spectacularly stupid. “Oh. You dated M’gann for years.” 

“And Wally dated Artemis, and Nightwing dated everyone, yes.” He leaned down and picked up another kitten that had wandered its way between his feet, handing them both to Jaime. (They were squirming so much he nearly dropped them.) “Only rule is that I live here, too, and I have super hearing, so keep it PG.” 

Jaime’s face heated up fast (Khaji Da’s recommendation that he breathe was _not appreciated_ ) and this time even Bart was speechless and red.

“Or tell me so I can leave,” Conner continued blithely. “Nearest pet store is on Second and Main. I suggest you hurry, because you’re cleaning up any messes they make.” 

He continued on and disappeared into the back rooms, leaving them standing there gaping at each other.

Bart recovered first. “That went well.” 

“Yeah, sure. Now we just get to wait for everyone else to find out and tease us until the day we die.” Jaime sighed and put the kittens down before he dropped them. “Underreaction of the century.”

“I didn’t find out who was first,” Bart muttered, sounding affronted. “I didn’t bet that it was going to be Conner. Maybe I did win.” 

Jaime shook his head and rubbed at his temples. Bart put his kittens down on the ground, where they immediately scattered and found things to attack. The white one picked his shoelace, so he carefully shuffled/moonwalked backwards and watched it follow him. 

“So,” Bart said. “Names.” 

Jaime rolled his eyes. “No one said we were keeping them.” 

“Well, sure, you didn’t say we could keep them, but I can tell you want to.” Bart nudged him in the side with his elbow. With his superspeed it meant he nudged him ten times in the space of a second, nearly knocking him over. “You are an open book, _novio.”_

“I didn’t know someone’s pronunciation could be so terrible on a three-syllable word, but you managed it.” Jaime rubbed his head. “You are an affront to my language.”

“Hey, hey, they didn’t exactly have language lessons where I come from. Cut me some slack here.”

Jaime smiled in spite of himself. He was doing impressively well, actually, considering that. 

Plus, even if his pronunciation was flat and his accent was nonexistent, there was something amazing about how many times a day he said _te amo._

“You’re lucky I love you,” Jaime said, the words slipping out of his mouth easily, and he was surprised by how freeing it was to actually say it. 

Bart beamed and kissed him on the cheek before scooping up all seven of the mewling kittens and dumping them into Jaime’s arms. “I keep your life interesting,” he said. “I’m off to get food!” 

And then he was gone. Because he had nowhere else to go, Jaime sighed and sat down in the chair Bart had originally occupied. The kittens were barely more than balls of fluff in his hands, slightly wriggling, and the black one climbed carefully toward the edge of his hoodie and burrowed in against his neck. It was fifty-fifty on whether Bart meant he was going to get food for them or the kittens. Or both. Or just him, because he was a walking garbage disposal. Hopefully he would remember to get food for the kittens, because they were really scrawny little things, and kitty litter— wait, did he even have any money on him? Jaime couldn’t remember. That was fifty-fifty, too.

_This does not seem like an endeavor for which you are prepared,_ Khaji Da said. 

Jaime laughed aloud, careful not to disturb the black kitten. _Scrapper,_ he thought privately. That was a good name. 

“That’s what makes it interesting,” he said.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing a fanfiction with a bilingual character, so if I used any words wrong or anything please let me know! I love feedback so I can get better.


End file.
